Home > Sharm el-Sheikh > Private Tour: St Catherine's Monastery and Moses' Mountain at Sunrise
USD $84.00
Private Tour: St Catherine's Monastery and Moses' Mountain at Sunrise
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
See the sun rise over the desert on an unforgettable visit to the place where Moses received the 10 Commandments. You'll travel in air-conditioned comfort with your own personal Egyptologist guide, who will accompany you up Moses' Mountain and take you on a tour of St. Catherine's Monastery.
On this sunrise tour you will watch the sun rise over the Sinai Mountains, and retrace the footsteps of Moses when he climbed Mt. Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments. Note that the descent is not too steep, but there are around 500 steps at the very summit.
On your journey back down the mountain you will stop at St. Catherine's Monastery, built between 527 and 565 A.D. The monastery is believed to have been built around the site of Moses' Burning Bush. During your visit you will visit the chapel of a Greek Orthodox church to see famous icons and the Mosaic of Transfiguration.
Please note: St. Catherine's Monastery is approximately 142 miles ( 230 kilometers) from Sharm el Sheikh.
Tour is highly recommended. I done a tour only to myself. Best guide was who climb up the Mountain with me. There is a good breakfast as well. Amazing view!
Review by: rengs, February 2015
Tour is highly recommended. I done a tour only to myself. Best guide was who climb up the Mountain with me. There is a good breakfast as well. Amazing view!
Review by: Julie T, January 2013
What can I say ... it was AMAZING!!!!! The guide and driver were awesome and made me feel safe the whole trip. The Bedouin guide up the mountain was absolutely charming and so supportive - it is not the easiest of climbs but so worth it! THANK YOU so much Viator - the trip was truly EXCELLENT!
Review by: H T, October 2012
We really enjoyed our trek up this mountain but it is quite a feat. Certainly the sunrise was superb and worth the effort. Our bedouin guide was truly superb, and the guides from Sharm were also very good. We were sorry that the monastery was closed, and we were somewhat disappointed with the breakfast given the energy expended! We are very pleased that we did this trip though, and certainly the private guides are well worth it.
Review by: Sharron C, September 2012
Good tour
Review by: Charles, June 2012
Viator was more expensive than booking at the hotel, but it's worth it! Our Bedouin guide for the climb, Ahmed, and the tour guide for the trip, Mohsin, were noticably more professional, friendly, and honest than all the others we observed during the tour.
Review by: Elinor B, May 2012
An amazing experience! Very friendly and knowledgeable Egyptologist and Bedouin guides. The great advantage to a private tour is being able to ask questions and gain information that you possibly wouldn't ask on a 'group' tour. I went up the first part of Moses' Mountain by camel (an hour and a half on a camel is a LONG time - I literally couldn't feel my legs when I had to get off it again!) I recommend wearing long trousers - not just knee length shorts as I did! Then there are 750 'steps' to climb - very sandy and can be slidy - particularly when going up at night. We had a gorgeous moonlit night an the starts were amazing! At 4.45am we reached the summit and it was COLD!! Sunrise was 5am and it was as though someone had instantly turned on the heat - and WHAT a sight! Wouldn't have missed it for the world - worth all the exersion of getting to the top!! As you're climbing pretty much all night you are exhausted by the time you reach the bottom of the mountain again (unless I'm more unfit than I think!) and I was half falling asleep over breakfast at St Catherine's monastery. Bring a sarong or something to cover your legs if not wearing long trousers - if you don't have one, they'll supply a sheet type thing, but you must wear it! All in all the trip was WELL worth the price and effort - a real 'once in a lifetime' experience! I loved it and can't say enough about the Egyptologist and the Bedouin guide, they were fantastic - and both spoke fanstastic English! A brilliant trip by Viator - would definitely book excursions through them again!
Review by: Abddalla G, August 2011
it was too hard to climb the mountain but the experience and scene up there was REALLY great but the tour guide was really suck :S
Review by: Paula Andrea A, August 2011
Excellent tour, the bedouin guide made it great! It's a fantastic and unique experience._br/_
Very happy with the guide and the driver as well.
Review by: Michael B, August 2011
The whole tour was incredible! Our tour guide, Ahmed was great. He and my husband hit it off immediately. Within 30 minutes they were joking and laughing ... and it didn't stop the entire way! He was very knowledgeable and even accompanied us up the mountain. He helped with the negotiation with the Bedoiuns for our camels. Our Bedouin guide, Mohammed was excellent as well. He was very quiet at first, but as he loosened up, he was joking around with the other guys too! I was really impressed with how many languages he spoke! This was by far, the best part of our trip to Egypt!
Review by: Paula Andrea A, January 2011
Excellent tour, the bedouin guide made it great! It's a fantastic and unique experience._br/_
Very happy with the guide and the driver as well.
Review by: Michael B, January 2011
The whole tour was incredible! Our tour guide, Ahmed was great. He and my husband hit it off immediately. Within 30 minutes they were joking and laughing ... and it didn't stop the entire way! He was very knowledgeable and even accompanied us up the mountain. He helped with the negotiation with the Bedoiuns for our camels. Our Bedouin guide, Mohammed was excellent as well. He was very quiet at first, but as he loosened up, he was joking around with the other guys too! I was really impressed with how many languages he spoke! This was by far, the best part of our trip to Egypt!
Review by: Jenny K, December 2010
This was an amazing trip with amazing views and I fully recommend it to people who enjoy hiking.
We were picked up from our hotel in Nama Bay, Sharm El Sheikh, at about 10pm and it took about 3 hours to get to the base of the mountain. We started hiking at about 2am, got to the top at 5am and the sun came up at about 5:45am. The night I went happened to be a full moon, but otherwise I would have needed a flashlight for sure. Also, dress warmly! I wish I had worn warmer pants, gloves, and a hat. Luckily, there were some people who rented blankets at the top, otherwise I would have frozen!
Again, highly recommended for people who enjoy hiking. It was fun to hike at night and the views are amazing during your hike down when you can see everything.
Review by: Philomena M, August 2010
A unique experience- Magical- Excellent guides - A memory to be treasured forever.
Organisation and timekeeping excellent. Dont miss this trip if you are in Egypt!!
Review by: Anonymous, Croatia, March 2010
The guide was perfect, the venue was great, although crowded at the monastery due to a small entry and exit. Trip to the top of the mountain, recommend take camel, as it is a long way to the top. The views are worth it though. It is easier to walk down the camel path instead of the steps. Lunch was not so good, as it was a food fest! All in all a great tour, but a lot of time driving. 5 hours all in all from Sharm El Sheikh.
Review by: Deane T, March 2010
The guide was perfect, the venue was great, although crowded at the monastery due to a small entry and exit. Trip to the top of the mountain, recommend take camel, as it is a long way to the top. The views are worth it though. It is easier to walk down the camel path instead of the steps. Lunch was not so good, as it was a food fest! All in all a great tour, but a lot of time driving. 5 hours all in all from Sharm El Sheikh.
Review by: , March 2010
The guide was perfect, the venue was great, although crowded at the monastery due to a small entry and exit. Trip to the top of the mountain, recommend take camel, as it is a long way to the top. The views are worth it though. It is easier to walk down the camel path instead of the steps. Lunch was not so good, as it was a food fest! All in all a great tour, but a lot of time driving. 5 hours all in all from Sharm El Sheikh.
Review by: David G, July 2009
This is not a private tour, as we went along with 3 other groups. The guide turned up late. Then we had a nightmare trip to Sinai, as the driver thought he was a F1 driver. We then booked camels to take us some of the way up the mountain. The guide left us and went with the other groups so there was no way of knowing where we were. The Bedouin didn't speak and my son got very frightened because it was pitch black and the camel he was on had fallen way behind us so he got off the camel and started to walk up the mountain with one of the Bedouins. I ended jumping off the camel I was on as the Bedouin would not stop, and ran down the mountain to where i found my 10-year old boy crying and absolutely hysterical with the Bedouin not being able to understand what was going on. After some hand waving I got though to him, so he just walked off, leaving us where we were in the dark. We then walked up and met the rest of my family. We then met the guide - how I kept my hands off of him I will never know but he was very sorry at what had happened and told us that he had no idea that this was meant to be a private tour, that he should not have left us but he had to go with the old couple that were with us. After the tour we had breakfast in what I can only explain as the bad side of Egypt - the place was dirty, run down and the food had flies all over it. I would not let my family eat anything, so we just had some bottled water.
Review by: David G, United Kingdom, April 2009
This is not a private tour, as we went along with 3 other groups. The guide turned up late. Then we had a nightmare trip to Sinai, as the driver thought he was a F1 driver. We then booked camels to take us some of the way up the mountain. The guide left us and went with the other groups so there was no way of knowing where we were. The Bedouin didn't speak and my son got very frightened because it was pitch black and the camel he was on had fallen way behind us so he got off the camel and started to walk up the mountain with one of the Bedouins. I ended jumping off the camel I was on as the Bedouin would not stop, and ran down the mountain to where i found my 10-year old boy crying and absolutely hysterical with the Bedouin not being able to understand what was going on. After some hand waving I got though to him, so he just walked off, leaving us where we were in the dark. We then walked up and met the rest of my family. We then met the guide - how I kept my hands off of him I will never know but he was very sorry at what had happened and told us that he had no idea that this was meant to be a private tour, that he should not have left us but he had to go with the old couple that were with us. After the tour we had breakfast in what I can only explain as the bad side of Egypt - the place was dirty, run down and the food had flies all over it. I would not let my family eat anything, so we just had some bottled water.
Review by: Georges T, France, October 2008
What an atmosphere!
Review by: Stuart H, October 2008
The trip is great fun, but only suitable for the fairly fit. We walked, but camels can be hired to ease the jounrey seven kilometers, but you will still have to walk the last seven hundred steps. This was well worth the effort and, as usual for Viator, we had an excellent guide and great service was provided.
Review by: Stuart H, United Kingdom, June 2008
The trip is great fun, but only suitable for the fairly fit. We walked, but camels can be hired to ease the jounrey seven kilometers, but you will still have to walk the last seven hundred steps. This was well worth the effort and, as usual for Viator, we had an excellent guide and great service was provided.
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